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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I love summertime because that means delicious salads for dinner! I ate this salad for about 3 days! It was so filling and flavorful. The best part about it is you can add whatever you want to it! It would also make a wonderful wrap as well. Just throw all of the ingredients in a flour tortilla and there you go!

Southwest Fiesta Salad

romaine lettuce, cut into small pieces

iceberg lettuce, cut into small pieces

1 can shoepeg corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

diced tomatoes, remove seeds

diced avocado

coijta cheese, crumbled

olives

tortilla strips

grilled chicken

Toss ingredients together in a large bowl, or build your own salad with individual ingredients. Serve with Fiesta Dressing (below).

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

1 package Fiesta Ranch Dip Mix

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and chill until ready to serve. The longer it chills, the better it tastes.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

I took at least 20 photos of this delicious treat and didn't feel like anything I shot did them justice. You will just have to take my word for it! These are amazing!!

Cookies and Cream Brownies

Brownies:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup flour

8 oreo cookies, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 inch baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl at 30 second intervals until butter is melted. Whisk together until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add in flour and mix just until combined. Fold in crushed oreos.

Bake 28-32 minutes. Do not over bake! These taste totally different if they are over baked. Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack.

I made this for dinner with some grilled chicken and vegetables. We really liked this salad! It reminded me of German potato salad a bit. My daddy would like this one!

Blue Cheese Potato Salad

6 slices bacon

2 lbs red potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 1/2 oz blue cheese, crumbled

1-2 tbsp blue cheese salad dressing

Cook bacon in skillet until evenly browned. Crumble and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, but firm, about 15 minutes or so. Drain and cool potatoes. Dice potatoes, leaving skins on.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, green onions, salt and pepper. Add the potatoes, bacon and cheese and toss to coat.

This salad is great served warm, room temperature, or chilled. Best served same day.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

This yummy side dish made an appearance at dinner last night. It was delicious!

Bloomin' Onion Bread

1 round loaf sourdough bread

12-16 oz monterey jack cheese, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tsp poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place foil over baking sheet.

Cut bread into slices lengthwise, then width wise, without cutting through the bottom of the loaf. Stuff slices of cheese in between each slice. Combine melted butter, onions, and poppy seeds. Place loaf on baking sheet and pour butter mixture all over loaf. Wrap loaf in foil until completely covered.

I was so excited to make this dish for dinner last night! It is full of veggies and as our garden is growing I have been anxious to use our vegetables! This dish is refreshing, filling, and healthy. We loved it and will be making it every summer when the squash and zucchini make their way to my kitchen.

Summer Veggie Skillet Lasagna

2 tbsp EVOO

1 onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes

salt and pepper

10 lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces

1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 small squash, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1/4 cup fresh basil, shredded

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large 12 inch skillet over medium heat until simmering. Add onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3o seconds. Drain tomatoes into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add additional water to make 2 full cups of liquid. Add to skillet with 1 tsp salt.

Scatter noodles in skillet. Layer tomatoes over noodles and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Stir in veggies and cook, stirring occasionally about another 8 minutes or so until veggies and noodles are tender. Add basil, half of the ricotta and parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until sauce is creamy. Dollop remaining ricotta over noodles and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Last night the hubby was up at Girls Camp, so dinner was kid friendly. This is one of my kid go-to meals. My son hates mac and cheese out of a box, but he gobbles up the homemade stuff! I have taught him well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Bring pot of water to boil. Salt water before dropping pasta. Cook pasta to aldente. Meanwhile, whisk flour and milk together over med-high heat until thick and bubbly, about 5-8 minutes. Once sauce is thick, add Velveeta, 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir until combined and cheese is melted.Once noodles are cooked, drain and combine pasta and sauce, then transfer to a greased 9 inch casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese on top and bake for about 25 minutes or until heated through.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

You have no idea how much I have missed food, blogging, working on my cookbook, and did I mention food? I am finally feeling so much better and our crazy month of family events came to an end. I am 15 weeks along now. Food and more importantly cooking, is enjoyable again (for which my family is grateful). To celebrate my lack of nausea, I made a patriotic dessert I have had on my "to try" list for a couple of weeks. It did not disappoint! Pretty to look at and even better to eat!

Patriotic Berry Trifle

1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 pre-made angel food cake, cut into 1 inch slices

2 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, at room temp

2 cups heavy cream, at room temp

2 pints blueberries

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

Heat 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and water in a saucepan over med-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.

Brush both sides of each slice of cake with syrup. Cut the slices into 1 inch cubes.

Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on med-high speed until smooth and consistency of whipped cream.

Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13 cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake on top of the strawberries, then sprinkle with more blueberries and top with remaining whipped cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

About Me

Motherhood is the greatest gift I have been given. I love to spend time with my family and make new memories with my kids. Our faith keeps us grounded and our time together is priceless. I believe happiness is a choice and so I share with you some things that make our home and family happy! Thanks for stopping by!
Becky

Contact Information

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like additional information. Please do not copy images. If you share any ideas or recipes please cite the source and post a link back to this blog. Thanks!
beckynielson@hotmail.com